Puig, Grandal power Dodgers past Padres

Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his three-run homerun with teammates Adrian Gonzalez #23 and Justin Turner #10 during the third inning of their MLB game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on September 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his three-run homerun with teammates Adrian Gonzalez #23 and Justin Turner #10 during the third inning of their MLB game against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on September 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

The Padres nearly spoiled Jose De Leon's major league debut, but each time they stung the hotshot prospect, the Dodgers had an answer. For the second consecutive game, the Padres could not overcome the offense of Yasmani Grandal, their former catcher, and they lost the series rubber match, 7-4, Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

Yangervis Solarte launched his 15th home run, a two-run shot and a career high, off De Leon in the top of the third. In the bottom of the inning, Yasiel Puig crushed his first homer since his return to the majors, a three-run blast.

The Padres scored on a De Leon throwing error and a sacrifice fly by Solarte in the top of the fifth, retaking the lead. In the bottom of the inning, Chase Utley and Grandal, pinch-hitting, recorded back-to-back RBI singles, retaking the lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Grandal lifted a high fly ball toward the left-field corner. Alex Dickerson tried a leaping, into-the-seats catch, but could not come up with the ball, perhaps hindered by a fan's own attempt. Grandal rounded the bases after a two-run swat, his second homer in as many games. (He walloped a three-run shot in Saturday's victory.) The Padres did not muster a response.

"It hit the fan's hands before Dickerson's glove hit his hands," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Reached into home-run territory, so that's not reversible there, but I still need to do a better job slowing the game down, making sure we really look through that thoroughly. As close as that was, it probably warrants a review at that point in time. I don't think there's any way it gets overturned based on what I saw, but might as well take a look at it."

In 24 career games against his old team, Grandal has gone 22-for-77 (.286) with seven home runs.

Padres left-hander Christian Friedrich returned to the rotation after skipping a turn. In 4 1/3 innings, he allowed four runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out four.

"I don’t know if it was rust," Friedrich said. "I feel good. It’s just frustrating. As good as I felt today, I wasn’t able to make pitches."

"He was out there battling, trying to execute," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Thought he handled some tense situations well. Was just kind of pitch-inefficient." (Friedrich needed 96 pitches to get through his start.)

Green said before the game that he intends to carry a six-man rotation the rest of the season. Friedrich's workload has been carefully handled — hence, the skipped start — but an additional day's rest between each outing should help.

Friedrich, in his first season as a full-time starter since 2012, fell to 4-11 with a 4.99 ERA.

"It's about building for next year and finding out if Christian Friedrich is going to be a part of that," Green said. "Giving him through the starts through the rest of September gives him the opportunity to continue to earn that."

Said Friedrich: "It’s nice because at first they wanted to shut it down. The way I felt today … I’m really looking forward. I feel like I’m kind of hitting my second wind after today."

De Leon yielded four runs over six innings. He collected nine strikeouts, the second-most by a pitcher in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut.

Solarte's home run was his second of the series. He finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs Sunday, but while Green was pleased with his output, he would have liked to have seen Solarte hustle to second base on a bloop single in the first.

"He needs to turn the page on that," said Green, who pulled Solarte from a game last month for not running out a popup. "He's been made well-aware of that. There's points in time in baseball where you allow a guy to conserve energy running to first base, and these guys go at it 162 games. You don't need somebody flying down the line every single time. But when it matters for the team and it matters that you have an opportunity to be on second base, you should be on second base. I think he'll take ownership of that. He should take ownership of that. He was able to put that behind him and have a very good rest of the game."

Asked if Green's message had been received, Solarte nodded his head but had no other comment on the topic. He did take some satisfaction in helping the team at the plate recently. The 29-year-old, who missed time early this season with a hamstring injry, has gotten back to producing after a recent lull.

"I wonder what would’ve happened if I didn’t miss those two months," Solarte said through an interpreter. "But at the same time, the most important thing is just to be playing. I’m happy to be playing everyday, being able to stay in shape, play well every day. It’s not necessarily about the numbers."

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